BATMAN: “SHOOT A CROOKED ARROW” (1966)

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *psychological, sociological*

The second season of BATMAN proves a much more mixed bag than the first one. The show’s very success encouraged dozens of actors to campaign for “guest villain” status, and to thus the writers began devising new rogues to play off the celebrities’ personas. Some of the new felons were at least cleverly conceived, but others proved tedious and unimaginative. The camp humor did not disappear, but it had to compete with a fair amount of cornball jokes. The general tone of this sort of japery was best signified by the “window-celebrity talks” that appeared when the crusaders made one of their vertical Bat-climbs.

“Shoot a Crooked Arrow,” another contribution by Stanley Ralph Ross, is emblematic of both trends. Art Carney might have endeared himself to TV audiences playing the character of Norton on “The Honeymooners,” but he’s a ghastly choice to play The Archer, a supercrook who models his crimes on the tales of Robin Hood and on assorted medieval tropes—though some of his weapons, like his trick arrows, came equipped with mechanical gimmicks like one of Batman’s DC compatriots, Green Arrow. It might’ve been possible to sell such a villain with a younger, fitter man playing the role, but Carney, paunchy and hangdog-faced, seems like nothing more than a guest-star playing an improbable role on a variety-show skit. The script gives not the slightest reason as to why the Archer patterns himself after Robin Hood, unless it’s some sort of compensation mechanism for having come from the same low-class neighborbood as his vulgar moll Maid Marilyn. Certainly the fact that he carries along with him a machine that plays applause—a lame stab at TV’s reputation for “canned laughter”—suggests the lack of a well developed ego.

Like the Penguin in “Fine Finny Fiends,” Archer practically broadcasts the target of his big score by making an assault on the Wayne Foundation during a charity drive. Archer does slightly cover his intentions by distributing the stolen money to Gotham’s poor, causing Batman to wonder if the felon is seeking to seduce citizens with “the allure of easy living.” However, Archer’s real plan is to “rob the poor to make himself rich,” by ripping off a huge shipment of money intended for Gotham’s indigent citizens.

Archer’s deathtrap for the Dynamic Duo and their ensuing escape are both rather silly, though this sequence spells more screen-time for Alan Napier’s Alfred, who continues to get more exposure in Season 2. Napier gets one of the best scenes, challenging the villain to an archery-contest as seen in one of the traditional Robin Hood tales. However, acting honors of this episode go to Robert Cornthwaite, playing the villain’s confederate Allen A. Dale—for Cornthwaite gives his supporting villain a tone so filled with snark that next to him Paul Lynde sounds like the wellspring of sincerity.